Girl, you got out of bed, made a meal, and filmed a video with the depresh? You're killing it! And thank you for talking about Lone Women! Also DNFd because I was bored even though the writing was great.
Hi, regarding Out (Natsuo Kirino) I think you might have it confused with Confessions (Kanae Minato). Confessions is about a mother confronting students she thinks killed her daughter. Out is a group of women working the night shift at a factory who help cover up a murder.
This is literally the first video of yours I have ever come across, but watching you aggressively pepper your food in the opening shot made me subscribe immediately
Team let go of books that do you no favors~ This is why I like using KU and such so I don't feel badly about it since I didn't spend so much money on it, heh.
2023 was my year of DNF. I'm such a completionist so it was hard... But I found the ones I pushed through just to see what happens weren't worth it and i still didn't care at the end. So yes, DNF is self care! 👏🏻👏🏻💜💜
I also hated the narrator of My Year of Rest and Relaxation, but that was part of the appeal for me. I enjoyed a glimpse into the psyche of someone who I had nothing in common with and would never want to know in real life!
I also DNF'd My Year of Rest and Relaxation last year because the narrator was far too annoying to me and I kept getting frustrated. I finally picked it back up to finish it and it was NOT worth it!! There was a wild twist involving 9/11 that I called like 25 pages into the book as a joke, like "haha, what if this book starting in September 2000 ends with 9/11?? haha, wouldn't that be crazy??"And then it DID, and I could not take the book seriously at ALL. It was the same energy as that one wild Robert Pattinson movie that suddenly ended with 9/11.
I also DNFed Before I Let Go. My reasons were similar to yours. I thought I was the only person feeling that way because it's so highly rated on goodreads with almost no low reviews.
I have dnf’d so many books. To the point where I have a goodread’s shelf for it so I can keep track of which ones not to come back to. 😂 I also have a paused shelf in case I wanna go back.
Ooh, a "paused" shelf is a great idea! I have so many on my GR currently reading that I'm not reading but don't wanna mark DNF b/c we're on a break not divorced. A "paused" shelf would help clear it out for me.
I read Kennedy's Before I Let Go and really liked it. I don't have a problem imagining people getting back together because it does happen and during very stressful times, people make stupid decisions that they regret later and that's what happened in this story. As for DNF-ing, I can't say I do it often. I like to think I choose books I'm more than likely to enjoy. However, I have a lot of old books on my shelves from years past and times and tastes change. Recently, I DNFed an old Jude Deveraux book called Holly as well as Alison Atlee's The Typewriter Girl. In both cases, I just had a problem with the "intimacy" in the stories. In the former book, the intimacy was over-the-top and not believeable and in the latter it was not hot or romantic. It was more workmanlike -- and maybe that was realistic for the story -- but I was really turned off.
I only got through "My year of rest and relaxation" because I had a reading buddy I could commiserate with about how insufferable, insipid and annoying everyone was. It's the book that comes to mind for me when I hear the word 'overrated'. In my opinion, this might as well stay unfinished and go to some thrift shop or public bookshelf or something, and good riddance.
The writing retreat: we started it on a family road trip. It was our third book attempt so we decided we had to read it no matter what. We can’t dnf our way across the country. lol. I hated the beginning and would have dnf’d it for SURE! But since I was forced to continue, we did. It actually turned into a super fun ridiculous insane time halfway thru. That beginning was ROUGH tho. That main character spent the entire time talking about how pathetic she is basically and that’s not a cute look. Lol
Back when you first spoke up about Palestine you were the only booktuber and the first I heard speak up. I never comment but I would like to say thank you for having integrity and not choosing to stay silent on a genocide. I have given other content creators up until now to either stand against genocide or in their silence stand with a genocide. As I mass unfollow too many people I previously respected I have decided to become a patron of yours, I don't have a lot to give in support of your channel but I look forward to another year as a subscriber and a first as a patron 😘🇵🇸✌️
I dnf Before I Let Go too on Chapter 26! Omg! Thank youuu. I did not like one of her friends. I didn’t like the other girl the ex started dating was a person from the job. I didn’t care of a lot. I know what happened because I asked my friends but I don’t feel I need to finish it. I do want to read the sequel
I loved Spells for Forgetting soooooo much! One of my favourite books ever! ❤️ I'm currently reading Iron Flame and I am struggling sooooo much 😫 Fourth Wing was amazing but Iron Flame is a mess
The Writers Retreat, I wish I DNF'd that one! My worst book of the year. And I think I don't get Ottessa Moshfegh. I read one of her books and have borrowed and DNF'd 3 others. I like lit fic. I like weird. My favourite genres are speculative fiction and gothic horror! But her work just ...annoys me? Idk. DNFing is self care ❤
I also DNFd My Year of Rest and Relaxation for the exact same reason except I pushed myself to get to 30%. I hated everything about that character and it just didn’t feel like good depression rep at all, she was just a bad person.
I gave The Only Purple House in Town and Small Town Big Magic both 5 stars. But I also understand that when I read them, the cozy/magic vibes was exactly what I needed. 100% agree on Spells for Forgetting...it is quite forgetful!
I loooooooooved the girl from the other side!! hope you eventually enjoy it if you decide to go back to it! (my bad I'm behind on videos I dont know yet if you have gotten to it to this day!)
There are so many books that I DNF within the first 10%. Either I don’t like narrator or the author did something that made me mad, like there are a couple cozy mysteries that were fatphobic in the first few pages. That’s one thing that will be a quick no from me. Also I get a bunch of books from the library, so even if I DNF, I am helping their circulation numbers.
"The Spite House" -- same! I started reading it and didn't hate it, really do want to go back and finish it, just wasn't in the right headspace at the time and it had to go back to the library.
I don't know why but it took me 3 different times borrowing it from the library to finish it. I very much enjoyed it. But I found it HARD to get sucked into.
DNF'ing is definitely selfcare. I also DNF'd that Kennedy Ryan book. I've only read one other book from her and enjoyed it but you nailed it - I didnt like any of the characters except the son. Noteable DNFs for me this year was On Our Best Behavior: The Seven Deadly Sins and The Price Women Pay to be Good - it wasnt written for POCs. And A Merry Little Meet Cute - it was boring AF.
@@misssydneymarie3034 hey!! It's very good and very academic but it was written from the perspective of a white woman for white women. At 30% there was still no acknowledgement that the experience of women of color differs from that of the author. While there was some acknowledgement of the author's privilege, it seemed to be more an acknowledgement of economic privilege. Like I said I think it's a good book but with so many books on my TBR, I decided to skip for something else I have a better chance of relating to. Hope this helps.
I dnf’d my year of rest and relaxation and the bodyguard too. I should have dnf’d iron flame. The only one from your list I read and loved was the writing retreat but it’s definitely not for everyone.
the heroine in viscous bonds is soooo beyond dumb to me. i cannot stand a dumb fmc i cant 😭 who brings up an SA unprovoked over breakfast for literally no reason just why. i hate that i’m invested enough to read book 2.
My goal for this year is convincing myself that dnfing books is totally alright. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for it, I just never do for some stupid reason so yeah
I agreed with all of the above but i made myself forge through. Sometimes it worked.out, sometimes not. But i loved this video and i will start showing myself more self-love in the future. ❤❤😊
The universe is funny. I have never heard of the Girl from the Other Side before but found it at the thrift store just a week or 2 ago and here you mention it. 😅 I hope to get to it before the end of the year, it looks cute.
The beginning of this video is literally how I Snapchat my friends. I am putting the phone in cabinets on the toaster anywhere so I can keep talking and doing what I’m doing. 😂😂
I have Lone Women on my January TBR and My Year of Rest and Relaxation on my March TBR 🤞. I read The Spite House last year and found it enjoyable at the time but wouldn’t place it on any fave lists.
The Girl From the Other side is so good, by far my favorite manga (though I cannot recommend the rest of the authors work from it as it is vastly different in genre)
I also struggled with Rest and Relaxation because of the main character. She was so unrelatable. Ended up finishing and I didn't regret finishing it but it's made me reluctant to try other novels from that author.
I definitely agree on the small town big magic book. It kept taking me out of the book and I had to stop reading. I pulled through a little more than half way before DNFing.
Honestly I was surprised to see Before I Let Go and while I adored that book I will say it did give me stress 😂 and I do remember I did take it pretty slow towards the middle but the pay off felt good! I still feel a type of way about how the fans talks about Vashti as if she actually did anything wrong 😂 but whatever lmao. Super valid DNF though (all dnfs are valid in my book)
I'm here for chill seasoning food videos. I ended up DNFing My Year of Rest and Relaxation when I realized it was set in NYC in 2000. I can't do 9/11 imagery.
i 'only' DNFed 8 books this year but i think i was a little more picky about what i picked up. i ALSO didn't even mark a book as DNFed if i decided i would come back to it.
Same! Chaotic smutty fantasy romp with Black women protagonists feels written specifically for me! I find them such fun reads. I do think the absurdity wouldn’t be so fun in audio format though. Definitely a book to read with your eyes lol
I finished the Bodyguard, but it was a struggle! I probably should have just DNF'd. It never got good, and it never got bad enough to be fun. Spoilers (kind of, nothing ever mattered in this book) I think they resolved a major plot point with non-ironic lucid dreaming.... and yet it still managed to be boring
Hot take! I really don’t think Fourth Wing/Iron Flame are “Romantasy books” I think they are fantasy books with a romance subplot which is the case with many true fantasy books. I think the romance was punched up in the first book to capture the market interest in romantasy but I’ve always said if you can REMOVE the romance from the book and it still be a really great plot then it’s not a romantasy it’s a just a fantasy book. I think the series would land better with readers if it was marketed as such and maybe sans the smut which confused things ahaha. To further that point: the books are not *centered* on Violet and Xaden like is the case with ACOTAR or the Crave Series or A Touch of Darkness etc etc. The books are about Violet and her quest. (The inciting incident, pinch points, and break into 3rd all focus on fantasy elements not romance.)
I DNF'd at 5 chapters of Iron Flame. It read like it wasn't edited. Edit: I got an ARC from NetGalley of The Bodyguard, last year I think. That was one of my least enjoyable reading experiences in a while (at the time). Her being a badass, while "looking like a kindergarten teacher" 🙄, was not believable at all. The dialogue was painful to read as well, and I didn't like the romance. I don't know why I finished that book, but I did and it wasn't worth it. Edit 2: I got an ARC of Sun of Blood and Ruin from NetGalley earlier this year. It did take a long time for things to pick up, and then the last 20ish% felt like a different story than the rest of the book. It was weird. I don't see myself finishing the series.
I enjoyed The Girl From The Other Side. I finished Vo. 1-3 omnibus in a few days. I suggest you read via eyes since the drawings were really good. DNF a few this year but I still pushed through many of them. It is still something I avoid, BUT now, I realize that I need to do it for my sanity.
I listened to the prequel of Animal, ghetto bastard and it just made me sad. It felt so real with the circumstances and how animal got into the life and I was so sad this kid turned out this way. I finished spite house and thought it was fine. I enjoyed it reading it but nothing I’d rave about. Vicious bonds was such a disappointment 😭
Between grad school and a little one, I did a lot of DNFing this year. I really liked Lone Women and the community aspect, but there’s one spoilery thing that held me back from loving it. Also DNF’d The Kindred. I was more open to a YA space romance/adventure than you, but then the plot took them to Florida and high school and… that was not what I signed up for. That Time I Got Drunk… was okay. I was expecting adventure with some romance, but this was the other way around and shifter romance isn’t my cup of tea. Too bad about Sun of Blood and Ruin. That’s on the edge of being on my 2024 releases list because the premise of a Meso-American Zorro retelling sounded cool.
Man, the fairyloot adult picks this year have been SO. BAD. there were some gems, but over all, it's been miss after miss after miss. Whoever is doing the picking needs to get their shit together honestly. I haven't even started reading Forged by Blood yet because I'm afraid it will be yet another miss for me, when I really want to like it.
I've been halfway into Lone Women since like... June? 😬 Idk i was liking it, but I moved on to something else and just never felt compelled to pick it back up. I haven't officially DNF'd it but I may be lying to myself.
I made the mistake of listening to Fourth Wing 😂 I hated it. I ended up Dnf-ing it at…idk 80 or 90% 😂 I should have stopped when I sped up the reading to 2x
I have been trying to read The Writing Retreat in between other books for MONTHS. I just don't care about these characters. Ugh. I believe Zoe Sharp's female bodyguard character, but that cover looks too cozy.
I didn't dnf much Our missing hearts by celeste ng i was surprised that i didn't like this book i read one of her books in April and really enjoyed it Hyperion by dan Simmons I really liked before I let go i read the book
The bodyguard was soooo dumb!!! Maybe it would be believable if she was built like serena williams not "itty bitty 5'2" petite uwu." And what was the point of telling us in the first chapter how dedicated she was to her job to then have her be kinda terrible at her job (no research into him, his family, the ranch, refusing to change her appearance because "she doesn't need a makeover girlboss" then why did chapter 1 tell us she a master of disguise???) And cringey boring dialogue and unlikable main characters, I feel like so often I find these books written by women or men with the purpose of being a feminist book, but the author and editor clearly have done no work unlearning their own biases, internal misogyny, or ideas of toxic masculinity.
I DNF a lot of books in 2023. This year was my first year as a full time teacher so it was not even that some of the books are bad. Honestly lately all I have felt like reading is Dramione fan fiction.
![TIPSY ANTI TBR| BOOKS I DON'T WANT TO READ: my petty reasons why [CC]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Cu_FNEEselI/mqdefault.jpg)
![BOOK COMMUNITEA: YET TO BE TITLED [CC]](/img/1.gif)
DNFing is self care
Girl, you got out of bed, made a meal, and filmed a video with the depresh? You're killing it!
And thank you for talking about Lone Women! Also DNFd because I was bored even though the writing was great.
"I don't remember anything these days, it's concerning"
Iron Flame = the rent is too damn high and this book was too damn long. It seriously needed editing out about 1/3 or more.
proud of yall for trying! I didnt even consider it LOL
😂 this!
This book was terrible. I have regrets
I'm all for booktubers to film in new locations, I'm nosy, I want to see decor. Love those pendant lights! 😂
"I live here so that's why it looks like this" me to my parents when they criticize my apartment...
Hi, regarding Out (Natsuo Kirino) I think you might have it confused with Confessions (Kanae Minato). Confessions is about a mother confronting students she thinks killed her daughter. Out is a group of women working the night shift at a factory who help cover up a murder.
Yeah, I've read Confessions and that's definitely what she was talking about.
Also DNFd Confessions about half way through!
Came to the comments to say this.
(I loved both OUT and Confessions but I read the original, so don't know if the translation is any good.)
This is literally the first video of yours I have ever come across, but watching you aggressively pepper your food in the opening shot made me subscribe immediately
Team let go of books that do you no favors~
This is why I like using KU and such so I don't feel badly about it since I didn't spend so much money on it, heh.
2023 was my year of DNF. I'm such a completionist so it was hard... But I found the ones I pushed through just to see what happens weren't worth it and i still didn't care at the end. So yes, DNF is self care! 👏🏻👏🏻💜💜
I also hated the narrator of My Year of Rest and Relaxation, but that was part of the appeal for me. I enjoyed a glimpse into the psyche of someone who I had nothing in common with and would never want to know in real life!
"DNF'ing is self care" yes 100% we are gonna die with a tbr life is too short to read bad books
Jess at 11:15: I only have 4 minutes left I don’t have enough time
Me, looking at the timestamp of 22:24: the lie detector determined…
Loved the chaotic energy of this one. More please!
the first 2 mins were so real and such a mood tbh (commenting at 2:30 lol)
I like your method of looking at 3 star reviews for help with making your decision to dnf. 🤔
I also DNF'd My Year of Rest and Relaxation last year because the narrator was far too annoying to me and I kept getting frustrated. I finally picked it back up to finish it and it was NOT worth it!!
There was a wild twist involving 9/11 that I called like 25 pages into the book as a joke, like "haha, what if this book starting in September 2000 ends with 9/11?? haha, wouldn't that be crazy??"And then it DID, and I could not take the book seriously at ALL. It was the same energy as that one wild Robert Pattinson movie that suddenly ended with 9/11.
I almost Dnf-ed Lone Women and then I finished it and I wished I’d Dnf-ed it.
I also DNFed Before I Let Go. My reasons were similar to yours. I thought I was the only person feeling that way because it's so highly rated on goodreads with almost no low reviews.
The audio I couldn’t do even 2x the speed but I was able to get through the ebook well.
I have dnf’d so many books. To the point where I have a goodread’s shelf for it so I can keep track of which ones not to come back to. 😂 I also have a paused shelf in case I wanna go back.
Ooh, a "paused" shelf is a great idea! I have so many on my GR currently reading that I'm not reading but don't wanna mark DNF b/c we're on a break not divorced. A "paused" shelf would help clear it out for me.
i made these goodreads shelves as well! i swear i'm gonna get to that book i "paused" 3 years ago... 😂
I read Kennedy's Before I Let Go and really liked it. I don't have a problem imagining people getting back together because it does happen and during very stressful times, people make stupid decisions that they regret later and that's what happened in this story.
As for DNF-ing, I can't say I do it often. I like to think I choose books I'm more than likely to enjoy. However, I have a lot of old books on my shelves from years past and times and tastes change. Recently, I DNFed an old Jude Deveraux book called Holly as well as Alison Atlee's The Typewriter Girl. In both cases, I just had a problem with the "intimacy" in the stories. In the former book, the intimacy was over-the-top and not believeable and in the latter it was not hot or romantic. It was more workmanlike -- and maybe that was realistic for the story -- but I was really turned off.
I only got through "My year of rest and relaxation" because I had a reading buddy I could commiserate with about how insufferable, insipid and annoying everyone was. It's the book that comes to mind for me when I hear the word 'overrated'.
In my opinion, this might as well stay unfinished and go to some thrift shop or public bookshelf or something, and good riddance.
The writing retreat: we started it on a family road trip. It was our third book attempt so we decided we had to read it no matter what. We can’t dnf our way across the country. lol. I hated the beginning and would have dnf’d it for SURE! But since I was forced to continue, we did. It actually turned into a super fun ridiculous insane time halfway thru. That beginning was ROUGH tho. That main character spent the entire time talking about how pathetic she is basically and that’s not a cute look. Lol
Back when you first spoke up about Palestine you were the only booktuber and the first I heard speak up. I never comment but I would like to say thank you for having integrity and not choosing to stay silent on a genocide. I have given other content creators up until now to either stand against genocide or in their silence stand with a genocide.
As I mass unfollow too many people I previously respected I have decided to become a patron of yours, I don't have a lot to give in support of your channel but I look forward to another year as a subscriber and a first as a patron 😘🇵🇸✌️
I dnf Before I Let Go too on Chapter 26! Omg! Thank youuu. I did not like one of her friends. I didn’t like the other girl the ex started dating was a person from the job. I didn’t care of a lot. I know what happened because I asked my friends but I don’t feel I need to finish it. I do want to read the sequel
Love the magnets on the side!
I loved Spells for Forgetting soooooo much! One of my favourite books ever! ❤️ I'm currently reading Iron Flame and I am struggling sooooo much 😫 Fourth Wing was amazing but Iron Flame is a mess
I love the carefree vibes of this video set in your kitchen. 👌🏽🍽
The Writers Retreat, I wish I DNF'd that one! My worst book of the year. And I think I don't get Ottessa Moshfegh. I read one of her books and have borrowed and DNF'd 3 others. I like lit fic. I like weird. My favourite genres are speculative fiction and gothic horror! But her work just ...annoys me? Idk. DNFing is self care ❤
off topic but what is your skincare routine! every time i watch your vids i always think wow her skin is flawless 🤍
The girl from the other side gets so good!
You should finish The Bodyguard. There are some dumb plot twists towards the end but it's a cute story.
Oh Jess I just love how real you are. Some folks just don't understand how hard JUST getting out of bed is💜
I also DNFd My Year of Rest and Relaxation for the exact same reason except I pushed myself to get to 30%. I hated everything about that character and it just didn’t feel like good depression rep at all, she was just a bad person.
I gave The Only Purple House in Town and Small Town Big Magic both 5 stars. But I also understand that when I read them, the cozy/magic vibes was exactly what I needed. 100% agree on Spells for Forgetting...it is quite forgetful!
Jess love this energy more than I can do with the depresh!!! ❤❤
I loooooooooved the girl from the other side!! hope you eventually enjoy it if you decide to go back to it! (my bad I'm behind on videos I dont know yet if you have gotten to it to this day!)
this felt like a ft with a bestie i haven’t caught up with in while lol ❤
I definitely have been embracing the dnf this year
There are so many books that I DNF within the first 10%. Either I don’t like narrator or the author did something that made me mad, like there are a couple cozy mysteries that were fatphobic in the first few pages. That’s one thing that will be a quick no from me.
Also I get a bunch of books from the library, so even if I DNF, I am helping their circulation numbers.
"The Spite House" -- same! I started reading it and didn't hate it, really do want to go back and finish it, just wasn't in the right headspace at the time and it had to go back to the library.
I don't know why but it took me 3 different times borrowing it from the library to finish it. I very much enjoyed it. But I found it HARD to get sucked into.
I have never been happier to be put in a cabinet ❤
DNF'ing is definitely selfcare. I also DNF'd that Kennedy Ryan book. I've only read one other book from her and enjoyed it but you nailed it - I didnt like any of the characters except the son.
Noteable DNFs for me this year was On Our Best Behavior: The Seven Deadly Sins and The Price Women Pay to be Good - it wasnt written for POCs.
And A Merry Little Meet Cute - it was boring AF.
Can you explain more for the Seven Deadly Sins book? It was on my tbr because I was curious
@@misssydneymarie3034 hey!! It's very good and very academic but it was written from the perspective of a white woman for white women. At 30% there was still no acknowledgement that the experience of women of color differs from that of the author. While there was some acknowledgement of the author's privilege, it seemed to be more an acknowledgement of economic privilege.
Like I said I think it's a good book but with so many books on my TBR, I decided to skip for something else I have a better chance of relating to.
Hope this helps.
@@shalanaf994 ah okay, that makes sense. Thank you for explaining.
I dnf’d my year of rest and relaxation and the bodyguard too. I should have dnf’d iron flame. The only one from your list I read and loved was the writing retreat but it’s definitely not for everyone.
the heroine in viscous bonds is soooo beyond dumb to me. i cannot stand a dumb fmc i cant 😭 who brings up an SA unprovoked over breakfast for literally no reason just why. i hate that i’m invested enough to read book 2.
My goal for this year is convincing myself that dnfing books is totally alright. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for it, I just never do for some stupid reason so yeah
I agreed with all of the above but i made myself forge through. Sometimes it worked.out, sometimes not. But i loved this video and i will start showing myself more self-love in the future. ❤❤😊
When you put the timer on cuz you said you talk too much, I subscribed immediately 😂
The Spite House had a really interesting take on ghosts which I liked, but it is long.
I hope you feel better soon girl 🫶
The universe is funny. I have never heard of the Girl from the Other Side before but found it at the thrift store just a week or 2 ago and here you mention it. 😅 I hope to get to it before the end of the year, it looks cute.
The Girl From the Other Side is so good! I'd definitely recommend picking that one back up again. That's the only one of these books I've read.
The beginning of this video is literally how I Snapchat my friends. I am putting the phone in cabinets on the toaster anywhere so I can keep talking and doing what I’m doing. 😂😂
I have Lone Women on my January TBR and My Year of Rest and Relaxation on my March TBR 🤞. I read The Spite House last year and found it enjoyable at the time but wouldn’t place it on any fave lists.
The Girl From the Other side is so good, by far my favorite manga (though I cannot recommend the rest of the authors work from it as it is vastly different in genre)
Lol , so many people who loved fourth wing hating on the sequel
I also struggled with Rest and Relaxation because of the main character. She was so unrelatable. Ended up finishing and I didn't regret finishing it but it's made me reluctant to try other novels from that author.
I definitely agree on the small town big magic book. It kept taking me out of the book and I had to stop reading. I pulled through a little more than half way before DNFing.
Honestly I was surprised to see Before I Let Go and while I adored that book I will say it did give me stress 😂 and I do remember I did take it pretty slow towards the middle but the pay off felt good! I still feel a type of way about how the fans talks about Vashti as if she actually did anything wrong 😂 but whatever lmao. Super valid DNF though (all dnfs are valid in my book)
Vicious Bonds tone was so bizarre that I also dnf’ed this year… those first fifty pages were SO convoluted and not in a cool fantasy kinda way😂
We have the same Owala.
I hope your 2024 is great, Jess!
You should try Reel by Kennedy Ryan. That one is a gorgeous story. The audiobook is well done.
Your house looks nice ❤
You and I both feel the same about a lot of those books lol. I, too, go to GR when a book starts losing me.
I'm here for chill seasoning food videos.
I ended up DNFing My Year of Rest and Relaxation when I realized it was set in NYC in 2000. I can't do 9/11 imagery.
giving this video a 👍🏻 before even starting it bc you are correct!!
i 'only' DNFed 8 books this year but i think i was a little more picky about what i picked up. i ALSO didn't even mark a book as DNFed if i decided i would come back to it.
I loved the "That Time I Got Drunk and..." series. I read them all (vs. audiobook) and thought they were hilarious!
Same! Chaotic smutty fantasy romp with Black women protagonists feels written specifically for me! I find them such fun reads. I do think the absurdity wouldn’t be so fun in audio format though. Definitely a book to read with your eyes lol
Oh The Spite House was good but I also forgot I read it until just now. Do with that what you will?
I finished the Bodyguard, but it was a struggle! I probably should have just DNF'd. It never got good, and it never got bad enough to be fun.
Spoilers (kind of, nothing ever mattered in this book) I think they resolved a major plot point with non-ironic lucid dreaming.... and yet it still managed to be boring
Hot take! I really don’t think Fourth Wing/Iron Flame are “Romantasy books” I think they are fantasy books with a romance subplot which is the case with many true fantasy books. I think the romance was punched up in the first book to capture the market interest in romantasy but I’ve always said if you can REMOVE the romance from the book and it still be a really great plot then it’s not a romantasy it’s a just a fantasy book. I think the series would land better with readers if it was marketed as such and maybe sans the smut which confused things ahaha. To further that point: the books are not *centered* on Violet and Xaden like is the case with ACOTAR or the Crave Series or A Touch of Darkness etc etc. The books are about Violet and her quest. (The inciting incident, pinch points, and break into 3rd all focus on fantasy elements not romance.)
Also Iron Flame needed editing soooo bad, my gosh.
I DNF'd at 5 chapters of Iron Flame. It read like it wasn't edited.
Edit: I got an ARC from NetGalley of The Bodyguard, last year I think. That was one of my least enjoyable reading experiences in a while (at the time). Her being a badass, while "looking like a kindergarten teacher" 🙄, was not believable at all. The dialogue was painful to read as well, and I didn't like the romance. I don't know why I finished that book, but I did and it wasn't worth it.
Edit 2: I got an ARC of Sun of Blood and Ruin from NetGalley earlier this year. It did take a long time for things to pick up, and then the last 20ish% felt like a different story than the rest of the book. It was weird. I don't see myself finishing the series.
rebecca yarros also took a very neutral stance on palestine's genicide soooo
I enjoyed The Girl From The Other Side. I finished Vo. 1-3 omnibus in a few days. I suggest you read via eyes since the drawings were really good.
DNF a few this year but I still pushed through many of them. It is still something I avoid, BUT now, I realize that I need to do it for my sanity.
Im reading iron flame n the only reason im still reading is because I dont want to waste my money😂😂
I listened to the prequel of Animal, ghetto bastard and it just made me sad. It felt so real with the circumstances and how animal got into the life and I was so sad this kid turned out this way.
I finished spite house and thought it was fine. I enjoyed it reading it but nothing I’d rave about.
Vicious bonds was such a disappointment 😭
Thank you for the laughs.♥️
Sending lots of love! 💛
DNF! DNF! keep gong love it for you get rid of the negative energy.
Between grad school and a little one, I did a lot of DNFing this year. I really liked Lone Women and the community aspect, but there’s one spoilery thing that held me back from loving it. Also DNF’d The Kindred. I was more open to a YA space romance/adventure than you, but then the plot took them to Florida and high school and… that was not what I signed up for.
That Time I Got Drunk… was okay. I was expecting adventure with some romance, but this was the other way around and shifter romance isn’t my cup of tea.
Too bad about Sun of Blood and Ruin. That’s on the edge of being on my 2024 releases list because the premise of a Meso-American Zorro retelling sounded cool.
U look very homey and adorable Jess! Thanks for this vid❤
I actually liked Immortal Longings! But the rest of everything you mentioned I haven't read, so.
I absolutely love your videos 😊. Happy holidays Jess ❤️
Love you boo boo ❤❤❤
I go to Goodreads to see if anyone start feeling my way too lol. Lone Women was just not it for me.
Man, the fairyloot adult picks this year have been SO. BAD. there were some gems, but over all, it's been miss after miss after miss. Whoever is doing the picking needs to get their shit together honestly. I haven't even started reading Forged by Blood yet because I'm afraid it will be yet another miss for me, when I really want to like it.
I've been halfway into Lone Women since like... June? 😬 Idk i was liking it, but I moved on to something else and just never felt compelled to pick it back up. I haven't officially DNF'd it but I may be lying to myself.
I made the mistake of listening to Fourth Wing 😂 I hated it. I ended up Dnf-ing it at…idk 80 or 90% 😂 I should have stopped when I sped up the reading to 2x
I also DNF lots of books. Too many books too little time =D
I wish i dnfd my year of rest and relaxation i feel it did nothing
Spells for Forgetting was so dull. I wish I had DNFd it. 😂
I picked up, that time I got drunk and saved a demon and Dnfd at the time she got drunk. I couldn’t make it to the Demon. Horrible on audiobook.
I have been trying to read The Writing Retreat in between other books for MONTHS. I just don't care about these characters. Ugh.
I believe Zoe Sharp's female bodyguard character, but that cover looks too cozy.
I didn't dnf much
Our missing hearts by celeste ng i was surprised that i didn't like this book i read one of her books in April and really enjoyed it
Hyperion by dan Simmons
I really liked before I let go i read the book
I also dnfed Vicious Bonds. 💀
I also DNFed Lone Women 😭
I have given up on Kennedy Ryan a long time ago. I don't recommend her.
You gotta talk for at least 20 minutes because that is my minimum exercise time and I neeeed distractions!
The bodyguard was soooo dumb!!! Maybe it would be believable if she was built like serena williams not "itty bitty 5'2" petite uwu." And what was the point of telling us in the first chapter how dedicated she was to her job to then have her be kinda terrible at her job (no research into him, his family, the ranch, refusing to change her appearance because "she doesn't need a makeover girlboss" then why did chapter 1 tell us she a master of disguise???) And cringey boring dialogue and unlikable main characters, I feel like so often I find these books written by women or men with the purpose of being a feminist book, but the author and editor clearly have done no work unlearning their own biases, internal misogyny, or ideas of toxic masculinity.
I finished "Lone Women" so you didn't have to. Rest assured you didn't miss anything, lol.
Can I buy forged by blood from you please ❤🎉
I DNF a lot of books in 2023. This year was my first year as a full time teacher so it was not even that some of the books are bad. Honestly lately all I have felt like reading is Dramione fan fiction.